Jamal Murray & Jaylen Brown: The Week the Stars Took Over

This week, the NBA handed out its Week 7 Player of the Week awards, and the results couldn’t be more fitting. Jamal Murray and Jaylen Brown didn’t just play well, they delivered the kind of dominant, timely basketball that only true offensive engines can sustain. And with both the Nuggets and Celtics relying on them more than ever, their performances came at the perfect time.

Jamal Murray: The Most Efficient Volume Scorer in the League Right Now

Denver has needed a second star to keep pace in the West, and Murray is doing more than stepping up, he’s rewriting his own ceiling.

His Week 7 statline was ridiculous:

• 29.8 PPG
• 4.5 RPG, 7.5 APG
• 1.3 SPG
• 59.5% FG, 62.1% from three, 92.9% FT
• Nuggets: 3–1 record

That’s not normal efficiency. That’s near-historic efficiency.

But zoom out and it becomes even more impressive. This season, Murray is averaging career highs across almost every important category:

• 25.0 PPG (career high)
• 6.8 APG (career high)
• 4.5 RPG (career high)
• 44.7% 3PT on 3.3 makes per game (career high)
• 50.6% FG (career high)
• 63.5 TS% (career high)
• Most field goals made, attempted, and free throws made in his career

Murray’s game hasn’t just grown, it’s become more polished, more decisive, and more efficient.

And he’s doing all this with Nikola Jokic having one of the best statistical seasons of his career, averaging:

• 29.2 PPG, 12.3 RPG, 11.0 APG
• 61.2% FG, 41.4% 3PT, 85.5% FT
• Leads the NBA in rebounds, assists, triple-doubles (11), double-doubles (21)

It’s no surprise Denver sits 17–6, 3rd in the West, with the #1 offense in the NBA at 125 PPG.

Even his injury couldn’t stop him. After spraining his ankle vs. Dallas, Murray came back the very next game and dropped 52 points with 10 threes on Indiana. That’s superstar resilience.

Murray isn’t just Jokic’s co-star anymore, he’s playing like a Top 15 player carrying real All-Star value.

Jaylen Brown: Boston’s New Offensive Engine

With Jayson Tatum out until March after his Achilles tear last postseason, Boston needed Jaylen Brown to become a No. 1 option.

He didn’t just accept that responsibility, he exploded.

His Week 7 performance:

• 34.0 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 5.7 APG
• 1.0 SPG
• 53.8% FG, 47.1% from three, 88.9% FT
• Celtics: 4–0 record

That’s superstar-level output, and more importantly, sustainable superstar-level aggression.

This season he’s averaging:

• 29.1 PPG (career high)
• 6.2 RPG
• 4.9 APG
• 1.1 SPG
• 10.7 FGM on 21.6 attempts (career highs)
• 49.6% FG (nearly a career best)

But Brown’s rise isn’t perfect. He’s also averaging:

• 3.6 turnovers (career high)
• 3.1 fouls (career high)

He’s taking on more creation responsibility, and the mistakes show. But the Celtics will accept that trade-off, because without Brown’s scoring surge, they wouldn’t be 15–9 and 3rd in the East with a top-5 offense.

Brown isn’t just filling Tatum’s shoes, he’s proving he can be a true No. 1 option.

Two Stars, Two Teams, One Message

Denver and Boston both needed internal growth to stay among the contenders. Jamal Murray and Jaylen Brown answered that call at the exact same time.

• Murray is becoming the most efficient version of himself ever.
• Brown is proving he can lead a playoff team without Tatum.

Both are playing the best basketball of their careers, and both are doing it when their franchises needed it most.